Best PlacesPender County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pender County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Pender County ranks 953rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pender County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Pender County
The parts of Pender County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Hampstead
More adults hold degrees, crime runs lower, and more residents vote.
Rocky Point & Wilmington
Local pay stretches further and tree cover is thicker.
Willard
Homes cost less, though incomes run lower.
Burgaw
Fewer households have young kids and schools score lower.
Scores across Pender County run from about the 6th to the 86th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Pender County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pender County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 97% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 97% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of counties
Where Pender County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of counties
- Short commute30.1 minutes each way, better than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pender County
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pender County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,325, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Pender County's effective rate of 0.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pender County
Pender County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pender County.
Who works in Pender County, and how
Work in Pender County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Pender County
Pender County has less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 24 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Pender County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pender County growing, and who is moving in?
Pender County has grown about 25% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Wilmington, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pender County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pender County, month by month
Pender County sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Pender County
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pender County
Schools across Pender County average an A−, better than 97% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Porters Neck ElementaryA · 72% proficient
- Topsail Annandale Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- North Topsail ElementaryA · 69% proficient
Top middle schools
- Topsail MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
- Surf City MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Cape Fear MiddleB+ · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Pender Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- Topsail HighA · 71% proficient
- Heide Trask HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pender County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pender County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Pender County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Pender County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Pender County
Is Pender County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pender County ranks 953rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pender County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $318,388. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $86,325 median income, cost of living beats 86% of counties.
Is Pender County safe?
Yes, Pender County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $320 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pender County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 36. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Pender County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Hampstead, Rocky Point & Wilmington, and Willard. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Pender County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pender County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pender County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Pender County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pender County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pender County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pender County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pender County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pender County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.